S3 E24
Prince and Lottie are met by a dwarf and a human They mention Gearberg Prince and Lottie ask who they are The human introduces herself as Sinead, and the dwarf is Grumble Grumble says that Sinead is a Princess Lottie introduces herself They say they are here with Greta Prince asks if they mean Handsome Greta Prince begins to talk of Hygard Sinead says they are clearly from Hygard Prince explains that they are here on a mission to seek help of the Tyrant of the Peak Sinead says they have beaten them to it And that Greta is still in the cave, they shouted for him Grumble mentioned a man they saw Prince asked if it was the man with the stove top hat And it was Sinead said his name was Sally Prince corrected to Xander Grumble said Sally wasn’t a Drow name Grumble mentioned a place called Coghold that they were headed towards Prince and Lottie agree to go with them ' ' Brink, Chui and Henri are walking towards Gearberg through the blizzard Henri says that it would have made sense for them to all stay together in the North, to keep warm Just over the ridge they see a bowl in the snow / snowed in crater The frigid winds are going over the top of the snow bowl Something is living in the centre Chui scouts the area Brink, if you need anything just cry out in pain Henri, make sure you come back A creature stirs lazily in the middle when Chui gets near It’s smaller than those crab things, as big as an owlbear There is a cuddle of creatures in the bowl, the snow stirs around them The creatures are slick, they have two limbs, they taper off at the back The rumblings in the snow err in Chui’s direction They are serpentine Chui returns to Brink and Henri Chui says there are loads of stuff living down there, some kind of merfolk in snow Whatever they are, they seem aquatic Small ones in the middle, like a nest Brink, maybe it’s a family of animals that we can eat, maybe we can make camp on the edge, stay away from them Chui, one of us should stay awake to discourage any inquisitive animals Henri, we can deal with that, worst case, we kill the parents and the baby of easy if they are mer-ish things they ain’t even got four legs Chui, not sure that is an encumbrance Brink, maybe we should go down there, have a look and come back if it becomes difficult Henri, ooh, can we ride the sled down Chui, well that might be a bad idea Brink, ah, you are right They all go down into the bowl It doesn’t take long before the paths in the snow come towards the group Brink, oh they are swimming underneath it Henri, keep your weapons ready Henri, we’re just walking through (in common and elven) Chui, raising ones voice is ill advised The group walks around, to rest on a slope The group starts getting too close to the creatures Merrow burst out of the snow, big ‘great white’ merrow They are gnashing at the group to get away Henri, we’re not going to hurt your babies Henri handles them calmly and they manage to get passed Henri, friendly faces, calm voices, crouch low, don’t step on their babies They circle around and then they don’t get any closer when the group reach the other side Brink, I think we should press on, sitting in the snow is no good for anyone ' ' Prince and Lottie and Grumble and Sinead. follow the peak for a bit Wide stairs, carved from the mountain Dwarf style lottie, is this your home? Grumble, nah, I’m from Gearberg Lottie, this is Gearberg? Prince, is this coghold? Sinead, leave Prink alone They are happy to get out of the snow Up some stairs to a door carved into the mountain wall Four immense brass clockwerk golems, they come alive at our approach They aren’t embellished with faces or weapons They whir up, stand up straighter and all of them, their fingers on their right hand retrack in to be spinning cogs There’s a code you’ve got a know The golems start approaching “ay, less of that you” Prince, and that was the code? say it in common tongue so we don’t have a mashed guest Lottie, so Grapple, sir Gromble! Dwarf, a kind and humble folk Lottie, so does Coghold have royalty? Gromble, nah, but they have a council, no king, though we do have a pillar - though he’s a bit flighty - we should go to the council , as tradition Go into a pillared mess hall Prince, you did say you were Reginald’s daughter? Sinead, yes Prince, we didn’t know Sinead, there’s not much point in Gromble telling everyone Out come two dwarves Gromble calls the council folk On the way they see more golems than dwarves End up in a small circular chamber One of them rings the big metal bell in the middle They take their seats Sinead, well I can’t speak for Grumble and I don’t know about Lesley and Prink I’m here to challenge the Trial of the Peak Prince, I thought you did it Sinead, we thought you did! Prince, I thought Greta did the trial? Sinead, Greta was here with us, he was going to help us with it ! Dwarf, as in the tomes, one goes up with the witness, you need one good respectable dwarf or it don’t count Prince, it is your call your highness Sinead, so you are not going up the peak? Grumble, I ain’t old enough, I’m not an elder, you gotta be a dwarf or it won’t go in the tome Prince, could there be no exception for an even older witness? Dwarf, can’t be trusted if ain’t dwarf, not virtuous enough Prince, how about a secondary witness Dwarf, if it’s a dwarf, that’d be the first and that’s all you need Prince, perhaps I could offer myself as a secondary witness Dwarf, do what you bloody want Dwarf, that’s the verdict, do what you bloody want Dwarf, someone ring the bloody bell Two of the councillors leave , and one gets comfy Prince, are you confident in your chances Sinead, we’ve made it this far Prince, fair Gromble, you’ll have to convince one of them to come with Lottie, can’t we just go Gromble, one of them needs to carry the book up with us Prince, any one can carry a book and write in it Gromble, oi you, you ain’t got dwarven virtue Sinead shrugs Lottie, I think you can do it Gromble, I think you’re doubting yourself Prince, well come with us Grumble Gromble, if she wants Sinead, what do you want? ' ' The three council dwarves - Torgoth, and Brumbol, and Gadon Sinead, okay Gavin so where’s the forge? Gadon, down there two lefts, wait for it to get hot, down there Sinead, no way we can convince you? you seem ready for it Prince, you look like you’ve seen many trials, like you’ve done the challenge many times Gadon, aye I have Lottie, I’d like to see that (folds arms) Gadon, I may have a few years behind me but I still have plenty ahead - I’m getting my axe Lottie turns to Prince, brilliant Lottie, you’re welcome Brigadier General ' ' Henri, Brink and Chui are still looking for a place to stay the night They talk of the merrow and then of their mothers and their fathers Henri talks of her mother not wanting kids Chui says he was cut out of his mother, and mixed race births were challenging Brink says his father was kind Chui says no idea Henri talks about biscuits and gravy, and invites them round when all this is over They continue on and the blizzard is still bad Henri gets onto the sled, and bundles up Brink, I think those are caves ahead Chui, yes I knew if we came this way Brink, Henri is unconscious Sharp peak, very wide cave mouth and two sets of steps going up around it Steps hewn from the rock, they disappear beyond the cave Brink, what do you think? into the cave or further up Chui, I suggest you take Henri into the cave, and I will have a wee check, as the dwarves would say Brink drags Henri on the sled into the cave The cave just seems to keep going, super quiet in there at odds with the storm outside There’s a disused fire pit, just ash now Brink sparks up fire, drags Henri near Brink puts torches all about the cave Brink makes a shelter to keep things warm, remove the heavy furs from Henri and hug her for the warmth, and when the fire goes low she adds more fuel Chui heads on up the stairs The stairs helix and there’s a doorway - pitch black beyond Chui wonders if this is the trial of the peak The stairs keep going up, following the edge of the cliff The steps crest occasionally, there are dwarven phrases on the walls along the way The stairs look like they go all the way up the mountain Brink wonders where Chui has got to, holding Henri Chui is twenty minutes up the mountain Chui thinks he might find Gearberg and help, and it could be the Peak Each passage of dwarven is different By the third crest of steps the passages do talk of a challenge Chui is now thirty minutes up the mountain Chui has a drink and runs his finger along the passage a couple of times, mumbling to himself For a lesser man the air would be getting thin by now The dwarven passages are less frequent Chui continues on The steps hit a cut off point, it’s like someone who maintained them stopped here They are worn down, some rocks on the path, they look less carved The engraving are not as well kept Chui can recognise the rune “peak”, none of the other words survived The steps keep climbing It’s getting colder and colder Chui heads up a bunch more steps, and they stop being hewn, what might once have been a path that led into a natural slope There’s one dwarf slab at the top, he can still make out the runes if he traces his fingers It said “Tyrant” once, but also twenty other things Chui continues on ' ' Brink, Chui has been gone a long time, maybe he won’t be coming back To Henri’s unconscious form ' ' Chui fights his way up anything that is a path, by dwarven or by other He climbs, he’s no longer smiling He gets to several points where he has to climb sheer rock This is what he is and what he must do He climbs and he fights, gets to a foggy layer Climbs up through into the cloud scape ' ' Prince needs a rest Sinead, we’ll need some supplies Lottie, let’s wait in the mess hall Gromble, I can take you around Coghold Sinead, we can pay for some Gromble, should that be your wish Princess Sinead, I’ve got reason to believe if we take this challenegd it gets us closer to defeated Igneon Prince, did Greta tell you this? Sinead, no he joined us Prince, there were others? what were their names? was there a golem and a young lady and a dragon? Sinead, why would we go with a dragon? we’re trying to defeat a dragon Sinead, an elf from the forest, and a goblin, and the other, they kept their hood up Prince, and Greta was definitely nine foot tall, bald? Sinead, nine foot is a bit too much, strong loud character with an interesting fashion for a man Prince, you say you lost him in a shadow cave? Sinead, not much in the way of caves back in the castle so Prince, brave of you to come this far Sinead, if somebody had done something about the dragon Prince, when we left for Frandelle everyone was concerned with making mob, Krogal of the militia Lottie, the militia? I haven’t heard of a militia Sinead, the Frandellese militia? Prince, how long exactly have you been in the North, lottie? Lottie, a few years Prince, the royal family, everyone on level one was hurt in the fireball Sinead, of course someone survived Prince, curious how you would survive that, if you were at all in Hygard Sinead, the same way my father did Prince, wasnt he held captive? Sinead, not at first Sinead, I’m just trying to make a difference Prince, that can be enough to make a difference Sinead, so Grumble is there anywhere to sleep around here Gromble, I dunno There is a hurried shuffle of feet and the barkeep comes from the kitchen and slams himself at the bar “what do you want” Lottie, terribly embarrassing, I haven’t any coin “what you drinking?” Lottie, stout (she mumbles other hygard beer words she’s heard) Prince goes to meditate, leaving the coin purse on the desk “come all this way and you want something like that” Lottie, well if you’re recommending something, I’ll try it “oh I’ll get you something” He goes to the kitchen and comes back out, would you be wanting to stay as well Lottie, Sinead, are we staying? I mean I could sleep on the floor Dwarf, you sleeping on my floor? Sinead, we have been travelling a way, we could do with a rest Lottie, hopefully Gavin waits for us and we can get some supplies Gets drink and food, crustaceous or giga-insect with shell on, cooked in the shell, prepared with fungus and mushrooms Dwarven beer is super potent flavour, robust Prince pays for some, Sinead covers the rest ' ' Brink and Henri rest in the cave by the fire Chui has not come back for hours Henri wakes up Brink, glad to see you, I thought we might loose you for a minute Henri, wasn’t like I was gonna die or anything, a glorified nap Brink, let’s go with that Brink, Chui has gone ahead, he has been gone for a good two or three hours, I think he’s not coming back Henri, he’s done that before, we found him, I don’t believe everyone would leave us Brink Brink, maybe he has found the destination, maybe he is dead on the mountain Henri, I hope he isn’t dead on the mountain Brink, me too, but don’t tell him I said that Henri, I didn’t mean to come to the North, it was the first place out of that burning city, I didn’t know there wasn’t a city we were coming to, cabin, and then snow and then fights and then I’m like this Brink, let’s stay here and recover, get ourselves in shape, and wait for Chui - there must be something up here, carved steps up the mountain, this might be the path to Gearberg Henri, I don’t believe he’s left us, when we’re feeling better maybe we can go look for him for a bit, what’s the point in surviving all this just to die Brink, let’s make a proper shelter Henri, make it like a house Brink, we’re sheltered from the storm in here, I don’t know what’s in the back of the cave ' ' There are footsteps at the back of the cave Someone steps into view, suddenly They look around surprised, six-foot and wide Hastens to throw off their cloak seeing the fire Massive boots, bit of a heel on them, huge muscles, bald head “Ay ay!” ' ' Gadon is at the bar, he necks a drink, mutters some thanks Gadon picks up his stone axe “Come on then” Prince, is it time? Gadon, gone bloody time Lottie, I’ll drink to that, (she’s swaying in the background) ' ' Quaking hands, edges of blood instantly frozen, limply clawing above the cloud level Belly onto a ledge, looking up at the blazing sun - no blizzard A lesser man could scarcely breathe The peak climbs and then there’s some kind of ice dome, a sphere There are more steps leading into it There are some figures at the top, blurred vision They are tall and lanky, they both turn to Chui with blazing glowing eyes Chui takes a deep breath and a sigh